First World Problems

Mum has problems with pillows.  She is searching for the perfect one, the one that lets her sleep without giving her an uncomfortable neck.  There are at least 8 in the house - four on each bed and she has yet to find the perfect one.  Meanwhile I test them all.

Wordless Wednesday - Head Shot

Snoozy Shift

Mum is back on another afternoon shift.  What a crazy roster it has been for the past few weeks, so I am learning to sleep during the day and wake up at 11pm when she gets home, ready for my feast and my little visit outside.  It has been raining during the day though, so when mum came home she said it was quite mild.  In fact on the news tonight it says that it has been the warmest six months of the year ever, since records began.

Mum went through the supermarket tonight, she loves a late night visit there.  No crowds and she can be in and out in five minutes picking up a few supplies.  Not good for the budget or the waistline but oh well.

Sopping Monday

Today mum was awoken by torrential rain, which seemed to subside as she headed out the door.  Once she got down the road though the heavens opened and all the rain soaked her through on the seven minute walk to work.  Luckily she could wear some work scrubs, but when she went to go home her trousers were still soaked, so scrubs had to be worn home.   They are stretched out on the drying rack now trying to get dry for tomorrow.

So mum was pleased that dinner was last nights leftovers, and the relaxing could begin straight away.  She was tired, as sleep still eludes her - for a variety of reasons.  One of the reasons is that now I am a permanent bed buddy.  I climb over her before she goes to sleep, and in the middle of the night she usually awakes to turn off and finds me pinning her into an awkward position on the bed.  Thus the winter tussle to take over the bed begins.  This is the look I give her when she is settling down at night - in my spot.  I believe you might call it a death stare.

So So Sunday

After a lot of mild weather, today was a reminder that winter is on its way to us.  It wasn't cold but there were lots of rain, with a few breaks in between.  Us girls have not got up to much all weekend, more of that hibernating that we are so fond of.

Mum did go out for brunch with a bestie, for a bit of mince on toast by the seaside.  Mum then went window shopping in town for a bit of a walk around, then off to the supermarket.  She didn't buy too much as she was very much needing the toilet, and with a five minute walk home and then 50 steps up to our house, she knows she needs to hurry if she feels that way.  Luckily she got home in time - just.

She had an easy dinner, a roast chicken with some carrots/parsnip/turnip mash and some broccoli, so enough servings of veg for her today.  The best thing is leftovers will do for the next two nights, which is always good.

So us ladies are back to relaxing - hope you got to take it easy too over the weekend.

Warmish

Today was a quite warmish 16 deg C in the city, a good few degrees warmer than it normally is for this time of year, with some cities reaching 20 deg, and the snow festival down south in Queenstown is mostly without snow.  Mum went for a wander in the afternoon, but made sure to take her jacket as the temperature cools down after 4pm.

She walked home to get some fresh air and was walking past the National War Memorial which is just around the corner from our house.  At 5pm each night just under the Bell Tower, the last post is played by the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior as the flags are lowered.  It is moving to hear and mum was glad that she took the ten minutes to sit and listen.

So a quiet evening at home, and mum is hoping that tonight she finally gets to sleep.  This nightshift has muddled her  sleeping pattern still but hopefully her clock will be reset after the weekend.

Exhausted

Sorry we missed the wordless wednesday yesterday.   Mum got home from a lovely day out.  She met her friend and friends mother and the ladies went to the movies to see Florence Foster Jenkins with Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant, a nice story that made the girls giggle.  They then had lunch out and mum went for a little walk, but by the mid afternoon all her body wanted to do was rest.  She came home and then took a nap at 5pm but didn't wake up until 8pm.  Then of course sleep was hard to come by, but she had a good book to read.

So she has woken up today and still feels like she could sleep for days.  Night shift has mucked her body round terribly this time.  She has to work an afternoon shift today, so hopefully will sleep through the night tonight and by the weekend should have returned to normal.

Our lavender if having a little bloom outside in the middle of winter.  It has been quite mild here with temperatures around 15 deg C.  We haven't really had any cold spells this winter yet, although we are sure they are coming.  We only get snow once every ten years or so in our city so are lucky to just get lots of grey, windy and wet weather.

Happy Winter Solstice!!

It is the winter solstice here in the southern hemisphere.  The shortest day of the year was here, and although it was covered in cloud (we took this photo last week), the temperature was mild.  Mum was glad to have today off, but her sleeping is still out of wack.  I don't mind what time she makes it to bed though - I will snuggle up any time.

So mum dragged herself out of the house and took a walk, and now it is a quiet night at home.  We look forward to gaining some more daylight each day as we step back to summer.  Just some cold and wintry weeks to get through first.

Snoozers

Well the night shifts are finally over.  They weren't too busy but mum sure was glad when 7am came this morning.  She packed her bag,  popped into the supermarket on the way home and came home to me.  The last day means mum took her time having a leisurely breakfast before doing a couple of chores.  She did think about staying up all day, but she couldn't her eyes needed some rest, so she came and slept with me for a few hours.

Our evening was quiet, she chatted to a few friends and now it is the last couple of episodes of Vikings Season 4, and she might try and get a few hours sleep overnight to get back into a normal pattern which will be hard as she feels wide awake.

Mum does find it a bit amusing at work when people tells her she looks tired on nightshift, as she thought she was wide awake and doing fine, and maybe this is just how she looks - tired all the time.

Glorious

This morning, as mum returned home the sky was a glorious riot of oranges and pinks as the sun rose, a bonus to finishing a night shift.   Mum enjoyed the sight as she sat on the couch and ate her bagel with smoked salmon (how posh), before retiring to bed with me for the day.  One more to go and then it is days off, which mum is looking forward to.

Curled Up Caturday

Today I was glad as mum crawled in just as the sun came up.  She had a roll and some milk for her breakfast and then climbed into bed round 8am to get some sleep after her nightshift.  Us girls shared the bed which was good as I have been stuck on my blankie at the end of her bed for days.  I often only run out to have my dinner and breakfast and go to the bathroom for an hour or two each day and spend the other 22 hours snoozing.

So there were jackhammers operating during the morning, but mum did manage to snooze off and on during the day.  She made herself a tasty dinner tonight and is relaxing a bit before heading off to work again.

Hope you got to do something fun today on your Caturday.

All Nighter

Mum has to pull an all nighter tonight at work, and in fact the next 3 nights as she is on a night shift, her least favorite shift.  The good thing is that with winter days it is easier to sleep during the day as long as the guys with the drills breaking up concrete aren't working over the weekend.

So today was devoted to mooching round and not moving far.  Mum stayed in her pyjamas til mid morning and although she was thinking about going into town, she decided to stay home and save some money.  Good on you mum.

Enjoyment

I do enjoy getting out in my garden, walking through the clover and chewing on some grass.  There are lots of interesting smells outside and I am always on the lookout for intruders.  There are two local cats who sometimes sneak into our yard, both are slim little females about half my size, so although I may not be able to outrun them I certainly look scary to them.  Being an indoors/outdoors kitty is awesome.

We are lucky and have had some fabulous winter days full of sunshine and warmth.  The cold end of the season has yet to strike us, but we are sure there will be some more bad weather in store before spring returns.

Wordless Wednesday

Bed Buddy

Good job mum that you napalmed the fleas, cos last night you got to hear my little footsteps running up the hall to join you in bed, a sure sign that winter has arrived.  Of course I had to try and climb into the wardrobe four times first, and wriggle around in side a crinkly shopping bag before joining you on the bed.

I stayed on mums bed between midnight and 6.30am when she got up.  I was on her bed when she got home, joined her for dinner and company until 6pm when I took myself off to bed again.  Ahhh winter - 22 hours of sleep a day.   Mum thinks I a hibernating bear instead of a pussy cat.

Hope you all got lots of snoozing done today too.

De Flea

So today mum gave me a bit off a cuddle and some nice treats for my breakfast.  Then she chased me, pinned me down and put my flea treatment on. She does it real quick, so that I don't get a chance to fight back.  She will let you know if the annoying pests pack their bags and move out.

Psychic Fleas

Mum says we have often have a trouble controlling my fleas.  She gave me a dose of revolution flea treatment on the 1st of june, but she  knew it hadn't done much.  When she sat me down and gave me a good comb yesterday there were still some of the wriggly fleas squirming round.

She had made a plan to go and meet a friend for lunch, and was thinking about getting some flea treatment.  The weather was a bit horrid here this morning, with big rains looming, so she texted her friend who lives near a vet, to see if she could pop in and pick her up some treatments before they met up.

Mums friend took a while to reply, but said sure.  Mum didn't want to put her out, and was grateful when she showed up at the cafe with some Advantage flea treatment.  She said she was a bit amazed at the coincidence, as she was just heading out her gate to go to her vets and get some flea treatment for her cat.  Great minds think alike.

It was a good lunch out, but the weather had turned to rain, so mum was glad to make it home early with some groceries,  and sit on the couch next to me.

Lovely Caturday

It was a lovely Caturday day today.  The stormy weather blew itself out, and we woke up to blue skies, a little breeze and warm sunshines. Mum got the washing machine all hot and bothered and washed towels, clothes and uniforms.  She scrubbed dishes and the floors and poked some brushes in the toilet.

Once the chores were done, she left her jacket at home and popped on her sunglasses and headed out for a walk around the waterfront.  By 4pm it was getting chilly, so she knew it was time to head home and bring all the washing in.

Dinner was easy for her and a feast for me.  Curtains were closed off by 6pm, and mum put the heating on as the temperature had dropped.  A few programs on the dvr were watched, and mum watched the end of the All Blacks Vs Wales rugby game.  So sorry Welsh boys, we know you were winning up til half time, but we don't think we had it in you to go the distance and by the end you looked tired (our team won).

Hope you all have a lovely Caturday too and got some sunshine wherever you are.

Stormy Friday

Twas a bit of a wet and windy one this morning when mum headed out to work.  Dawn had barely broken and it was so dark out that there was little in the way of sunshine anyways.  Mum pulled out her winter beanie to keep her hair dry on the way to work.  Alas our weather is not made for umbrellas as it is to windy to keep them up, so a good solid raincoat is the way to keep dry.

It was a good evening for mum to feed me my feast early, she had nodded off on the couch, but I meowed at her until she woke up and dished me up my dinner.  She then heated up some chicken soup and bread for herself.  Then she had a couple of oranges - she loves the American Navel Oranges that are imported down under.    Good vitamin C for the winter.  It is funny that we ship Oranges and grapes to NZ, and send our apples and lamb out to the world, as well as many other items.

Hope you are all ready for the weekend - it all starts now!!

Thankful Thursday

The blue skies have ebbed away, and mum is thankful that the rain arrived once mum was only a few minutes away from home, so she arrived mostly dried.  Work was busy, and mum was in charge of booking things and getting things organised today, but as soon as she booked five things in, there were 10 more things waiting to be done.  So she was thankful when the day was over and she got to head on home.  So one more day to get through and it will be the weekend again.

We feel like we are both hibernating on the couch at the  moment, but winter can feel like that with the dark long evenings.  It is hard to believe that the shortest day of the year will be upon us in a few weeks and the days will again begin to get longer.

Hope you all have a lovely evening too.

Naughty Spot

Sometimes I take myself off and put myself in the corner - what mum likes to think of as the naughty spot, although I have not done anything wrong.    It is a little corner of the living room between the door and the basket that holds mums scarves and gloves.

Mum had a busy on call night last night and got home just after 5am.  It is then quite hard to trick your body into sleeping for a couple of hours, then mum got up and had a shower and a little lunch relaxing and enjoying the sunshine.   Washing was done and then mum had to head into work.  After work she was a bit knackered, so an easy chicken and ready made salad was bought for dinner and us girls had another quiet evening.  In truth the only type we are having lately.  Food, tele, reading and then to bed seems to be the order of the winter for mum.  Food, sleeping and a quick walk outside for me.

Do you have a naughty spot too?

Blue Skies

We have been treated to some lovely blue sky mild days, but as 4pm falls the temperatures drop and the evening becomes chilly.  We have enjoyed them though, as some of that bad weather that Australia has been having is heading our way, bringing lots of rain for the end of the week.

Outside Nap Fail

I did consider it - truly I did.  The sun was shining, even a bit warm but no I chose to sleep under the bench instead.

Mum had a nice day off today.  A little sleep in, a little salmon toast for breakfast, a walk in the sunshine.  She was shopping for a raincoat, but found a warm jacket instead.  Oh well.  She fed me a feast and made herself some chicken and pasta for her dinner.

3 days off was lovely - thank you Queenie for having a birthday and giving us a day off to recover.  Cheers to you!!

Visiting Dust

Today was another sunny winters day, and so mum headed out to visit with her friends for the afternoon.  She got to meet this handsome fellow Dust, who came out and greeted her at the door as she arrived.  He accepted a couple of pats and seemed pleased when mum said goodbye handsome as she left.  Her friend sounded sad as he said no one called him handsome, so mum had to call out Goodbye Handsome to him too.

Mum stopped off at the supermarket and got some groceries and then came home to give me my feast and we have snuggled on the couch enjoying the heater.

Caturday Chilling

I was lucky to catch some sunbeams today as they spilled through the window.  Mum has not had a chance to do the housekeeping yet, there is a pile of washing to be sorted and she still has to hoover and tidy up.  Last night she worked another busy shift and this morning headed out early to meet a bestie for a wander.  By the afternoon her feet were sore after hours of wandering round town and she was glad to head home.  An early dinner was had, a wee nap and a few shows on the box, and now time to head to bed.

We are lucky and have three days to enjoy each others company and three days of sunny days forecast.  Of course with sunny days come chilly nights but we are enjoying the opportunity to snuggle down at night.  I am still not sleeping with mum yet, although as soon as it gets real frosty and drops to 0 deg (C), mum expects to hear my footsteps up the hallway and jumping onto her bed.

Hope you have all had a good Caturday and enjoyed yourselves.

Pussy Cat Print

This is the print that mum bought at the art show last night.  It goes against her rule of having pussy cat things in the house (besides me and my belongings).  Mum has to tell her friends that while she loves her cat (me), and lots of other cats, she does not want every present she gets to have a cat on it.  Some people like pussy cats on their sweatshirts, key rings, bed covers, cushions and knick knacks.  However mum and her friend both liked this print, it made them smile, so mum kept looking at it before deciding to buy it and bring it home.  She just needs to find a frame so she can hang it up.

Yippee it is the weekend!!  3 days off for us to share.

School Night Out

Mum went out on a school night - well a work night really.   She worked last night til 10:30 pm, came home and went to bed at 12:30am.  Up at 6:30am and off for a full days work.  Home by 5pm then dressed and changed and out by 6pm.  She then met one of her besties to go to the local art show.  There was free wine and nibbles.  The girls figured out where the kitchens were and positioned themselves closer there to get some little bites.  The meatballs were ok, the squid rings deliscious, the potato bites were awesome and the fried tofu was the most horrible thing mum tasted.  All the little fancy horderves were pretty tiny so the girls went and got some spicy noodles as there tummies were rumbling, and were heading home by 9:30 pm.  Now mum is feeling the cold evening and is ready to head to bed to snuggle in and keep warm.

Oh and she bought a print at the art show.  She will take a photo tomorrow when there is some sunshine and show you all.

Wordless Wednesday - Hello June - Hello Rain